Haas Institute a Partner of New Racial Equity Fellowship Program funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies
The new $60 million, 10-year initiative will support, train, and network leaders committed to anti-black racism working together across disciplines and borders to advance more inclusive societies
The Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at UC Berkeley is pleased to announce its partnership with Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity, an ambitious new 10-year, $60 million leadership initiative for courageous and creative leaders dedicated to dismantling anti-black racism in the United States and South Africa, two nations with deep and enduring legacies of racial exclusion and violence. The Haas Institute is one of “five renowned champions of racial equity” that conceived, designed, and will lead the program, according to an announcement released by The Atlantic Philanthropies and Columbia University today.
The Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity program, which will be hosted by Columbia, will support 350 fellows over its 10-year lifespan, annually supporting up to 35 fellows from the United States and South Africa. The fellowship is designed to strengthen the capacity, individual skills, and professional connections of academics, activists, authors, and others to enhance their understanding of anti-black racism and to lead successful movements for racial equity around the world.
In addition to the Haas Institute, program activities in the United States will be carried out in partnership with Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity, Center for Community Change, and NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The Nelson Mandela Foundation will coordinate programming in South Africa.
The Haas Institute and Berkeley will also receive additional resources from Atlantic that will be specifically devoted to multi-disciplinary research and undergraduate student fellowships.
“Being part of a renowned research institution such as Berkeley, we are in a position to engage directly with faculty and students to deepen research on the structural and narrative components of anti-black racism,” said Haas Institute director john a. powell, who is also a professor of Law and African American Studies at the university.
“Prevalent racialized realities due to the enduring history of anti-blackness in this country are illustrated in our housing policies, segregated neighborhoods, the racial wealth gap, alarming health disparities, school inequities, rates of mass incarceration, and more. These new resources will enable us to further examine root causes to anti-blackness holistically through our lens of Othering, a process that establishes and maintains hierarchies of power, privilege, and access to resources that cause deep cleavages in society. We are honored to be in such close collaboration with this international group of experts to forge new paths toward justice.”
“At a time when issues of race and identity are at the forefront of intense debates in South Africa, the U.S. and around the globe, supporting multi-racial and multi-ethnic leadership to lead us forward could not be more urgent or essential,” said Kavitha Mediratta, chief strategy advisor at The Atlantic Philanthropies, who will become founding executive director of the Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity program. “In addition to the Atlantic Fellows, we are honored to support new scholarship at UC Berkeley focused on more deeply understanding the forces of structural marginalization and inclusion.”
The first cohort of Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity will be announced in 2017. Sign up at atlanticfellows.org for application information and updates.
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MEDIA CONTACT
Rachelle Galloway-Popotas
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